Sylvester Idowu in Warri
Chairman of DAS Energy Services Nigeria Limited, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has reiterated that a country’s huge foreign reserve is not total indication of socio-economic well-being of its citizens.
Onuesoke in a statement yesterday noted that a true economic growth is seen in the improvement of the living standards of the populace and not in the foreign reserves.
He argued that it is better the people have surplus and live fine with less amount, maybe even some few millions in foreign reserves, than to have trillions in the foreign reserve and the majority of the populace are hungry with weak institutions, low productivity, poor infrastructure, high unemployment rate and weak human development among others.
The former Delta State gubernatorial aspirant explained that a true economic growth is seen in the improvement of the living standards of the populace and not in huge foreign reserves, stressing that it is better for the people to have surplus and live fine with less amount in foreign reserves while the majority of the populace are hungry.
“A country foreign reserve growth is not the only basis for rating its socio-economic development. A country’s foreign reserves can be one indicator of economic strength, but they are not the only basis for rating an economy.
“High reserves can show things like ability to pay for imports, support for the currency during pressure, confidence in the country’s external finances. However, a country can have large reserves and still face problems if it has weak institutions, low productivity, poor infrastructure, high unemployment, weak human development.
“A country with lower reserves can still make progress if it has: strong institutions, productive industries, innovation, good human development, stable policies. So, foreign reserves are a financial health measure, but true economic progress is measured by a broader picture,” he said.
Onuesoke stated that socio-economic development should go beyond holding and owning foreign reserves, adding, “What to look at how it is reflected in the lives of people. Foreign reserves is growing, but poverty line is growing as well, that is actually not economic growth. True economic growth is seen in the improvement of the living standards of the populace and not in the foreign reserves.
“On a final note, it is better the people have surplus and live fine with less amount maybe, even some few millions in foreign reserves for now, than to have trillions in the foreign reserves and the majority of the populace are hungry,” Onuesoke stated.